Because everyone knows 4th time is the REAL charm.

The outsider point-of-view.

There are a lot of times in our lives when we try to analyze everything as much as we can and yet, we are unable to come up with a solution, an observation, or a conclusion in a non-biased manner. We like to tell ourselves that we can be impartial when it comes to certain matters, but our upbringing, our genetics, our environment, our everything will always have some sort of bias in one direction or another. It may be slight, but it will be always be greater than the bias of an outsider’s point-of-view.

We could benefit more from listening to the views of someone outside of whatever situation or problem in which we find ourselves. The “fresh pair of eyes” that an outsider can provide may prove to be invaluable when it comes to making decisions about how to approach certain scenarios. We can all play out the possibilities that we may think will occur — think like Abed and the Dreamatorium scenarios — but the truth is that those are always our own reactions that from which we are forming strategies. Observations made from the outside looking in, from a party not necessarily involved in the scenario, help us to focus on the task at hand and can sometimes create solutions quicker and more accurately than hours and hours of pondering and circular thoughts.

I think there’s even more power when the outsider is someone that knows you very well and whom you completely trust. There only bias would be acting and advising in your best interest, and if they’re a good person, those solutions would not be at the expense of another person’s livelihood or happiness. I know I’m good at advising to get to the point of something that is actionable, and I’m lucky to know others who can advise me in a similar manner when I’m “stuck in a rut”, as it were. Those people are the same trustworthy individuals with whom I crafted my views on the universe, meditation, “zooming-out”, and the general benefits of a healthy mind and body. I’ll always look to them for their outside perspectives, and even their “inside” perspectives, especially when it’s involving mutual friends in a given situation.

Where am I going with this? It’s another blabbering post, I’m sure. But it comes from a recent conversation with one of my best friends about another one of my best friends. Again, as much as I can play out the different scenarios in my own internal Dreamatorium, all it took was one relatable story to help me find the proper way to position what it is that I need to say. And as I told them, the real hard part is finding the right words and, of course, the right time.

But that, kids, is another story for another time. Hopefully, one that I can tell sooner than later, but like I said, it’s all about the right timing.